Jon Pertwee’s Spaghetti Flan

If you’re a long-time Doctor Who fan, you know Jon Pertwee as the actor who played the third incarnation of the Doctor in the early 1970’s. What you may not be aware of is that Pertwee is a culinary wizard with canned spaghetti, or at least that’s what this advertisement would have you believe.

Jon Pertwee’s Spaghetti Flan

The 1962 magazine ad features British television celebrities of the day each with a recipe made using Heinz Spaghetti with Tomato and Cheese Sauce. The celebrity at bottom left is the man who would go on to play the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, with his recipe for spaghetti flan.

Bacon, cheese and canned spaghetti. Could it be anything but delicious?

And just imagine: fifty years ago the cast and crew who first brought Doctor Who to our screens might have come home from a hard day’s work at Television Centre to make this very dish. In fact, it’s not hard to believe that spaghetti has had a huge influence on Doctor Who over the years.

You were supposed to bring the meatballs.

And it would appear that spaghetti continues to have an impact on the new series as well.

Oodles of Noodles

While I’d like to be able to bring you a documentary film on this historic recipe, I have neither the budget, time, nor expertise to produce something of the caliber that it deserves. What I will do is give Jon Pertwee’s Spaghetti Flan a new life in my kitchen and share the results on this short-lived blog. Next post: the search for Heinz Spaghetti with Tomato and Cheese Sauce.